Tipadel Twin’s Teutonic Toy!

Two of the most familiar faces at any Gurston Down event, whether British Hillclimb Championship or club meeting, are Andrew Fraser and Tim Painter, otherwise known as ‘The Jovial Gents’.

The Tipadel Porsche is a beautifully-engineered work of art.

The Somerset-based duo have been competing together on the hills for over 35 years sharing a variety of very interesting cars, including Brabham, Gould, Metro 6R4 and in recent years several Porsche 911s.

Having spent the past couple of seasons sharing an ex. Richard Westbrook Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, the duo were looking for a new project and they have found it with a later generation of GT3 Cup car. Acquired arond 12 months ago, Painter and Fraser have spent the past year preparing the new vehicle to their own very high standards.

Originally being run in the Carrera Cup Asia this 997 model 911 GT3 Cup is based on the one-make championship model for these cars which feature a 3.6 litre (420bhp & 310ft/lb) water-cooled version of the familiar flat 6, but with lots of technology crammed in. The motor also features variable intake trumpets and sequential fuel injection.

One of the key factors that encouraged the Jovial Gents down the 997 route was the fact that it was the first one-make 911 model to be supplied with a sequential gearbox. The six-speed, dog box is fed by a 5.5 inch triple-plate Sachs clutch assembly. The other more striking aspect of the car is the bespoke carbon fibre aero package which is based on the GT3 road car and features carbon front slitter and rear wing.

Andrew Fraser settles into the cockpit for another run at his local hill.

Having taken part in a couple of Gurston events with the car already this year, Tim and Andrew finally got some dry running in this weekend and started to explore the cars limits a bit more. Both drivers had a mighty scrap with the Vauxhall VX220 of Leaders Championship front-runner Eynon Price in a very entertaining class. Painter got closest to the Welsh Wizard with a sub-35s run to close within 1.25s of Price, Fraser was just behind his team mate after the first runs and determined to improve, when he charged into Hollow Bend just a little too hot and had a massive spin across the apex of the high-speed left hander and just nudged the bank backwards. A little bit of rear bumper damage and exhausts full of mud were the result. Still, could’ve been worse Andrew, you have a reputation at Hollow!

The 1100kg car is a stunning bit of kit, which is a credit to Tim and Andrew’s preperation skills, and is sure to be a very welcome addition to the South West and Midlands hillclimb scene.